Do women only love men for what men can do?

When you say powerful, influential and popular, these are good traits, but they don't have to be linked to money and status. Someone can be powerful in leading a good life (doesn't have to be professional), or can be influential to those who surround them (doesn't have to be famous). Rich? Meh, without generalisation, many rich people can be shallow or spoiled, and that's a complete turn off for me. I won't be after a deadbeat either, but it still has nothing to do with money, more to do with their personality. Clearly you've been exposed to only one type of women, and you are think now you the expert on women.

I believe my wife married me for who i was . Certainly not for money .

My partner is definitely not rich, powerful influential popular etc lol

I won’t BS you. When it comes to selecting someone that you want to intertwine and spend the rest of your life with, if you have any dreams you intend to make a reality, finances, whether they are competent and capable are reasonable mate selection factors. At a certain point I decided I didn’t want to pour anymore of myself into dating ‘projects’ (guys who say they want to get their act together, say they want ABCD out of life, but, for a myriad of excuses, don’t follow through ). I wanted a partner that I could *mutually* create a good life together. (‘Good life; meaning we have complementary dreams and consistently work towards those aims, both as individuals and as a couple, in a compatible way)

But as for falling in love with him? I love his compassionate nature, our ability to be comfortably silent, his thoughtfulness and how we laugh together a lot. I love that we create a safe place to be ourselves and that overtime we’ve learned that we can trust each other. I appreciate that we can be good to each other and nobody needs to worry about being taken advantage of anymore. We have fun together and he’s open to new experiences. I love the way he gets happy creases in his eyes when he talks about all of the animals he came across that day while he was at work. I love that no matter what he is doing with himself he does it with the mindset that by putting his whole heart into it and being kind he is helping make the world a better place to some degree. I love what a good dad he is to his son and it warms my heart to see my own kiddo bonding with him in small ways. I love how we sneak hugs and kisses while cooking together. List goes on.. he’s my best friend.

What you're saying about women ("women love those things and easily confuse that love for real actual compassion and care") shows how you seem unable to see any woman as a person. If you can't respect them, don't expect too much true feelings.

I can’t speak for all women. But I love my man for who he is.

I'm living proof that, that's not the case

Girls want security, a home, nice things, stability....
Guys want sex,sex, more sex, kinky sex...

I have never married for money. I was usually in love, or thought I was in love.

When I married my late husband, he didn’t have a car, and I was making more money. It was definitely about the man and not what he had materially speaking. And I never regretted it.